New LNG facility in Peñuelas seen as part of shift to sustainable energy
By The Star Staff
Crowley has inaugurated a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in Peñuelas that will support efforts by businesses and industries to obtain sustainable energy alternatives in Puerto Rico, Central America and the Caribbean, officials said.
“We continue to expand our capacity and investment in Puerto Rico with the opening of this special facility, which enhances Crowley’s LNG capabilities across diverse industries,” Crowley Chairman and CEO Tom Crowley said earlier this week at the ribbon-cutting for the facility. “Our LNG solutions allow industrial and commercial clients to plan, monitor, and produce their own energy while protecting their business from potential threats such as power outages or natural disasters.”
Over the course of several years, he said, Crowley has fostered strong, transparent relationships with government and business leaders in Puerto Rico, allowing the company to play a pivotal role in supplying cost-efficient, sustainable fuel sources to the island’s leading sectors. Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia and Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González Colón attended the Tuesday event.
“As Puerto Rico moves forward on its quest to transform its dated and fragile electricity generation system into a first-class energy network, the use of alternative and transitional fuels like LNG will be critically important in helping build resiliency and reliability into the system,” Pierluisi said. “Crowley’s new LNG loading terminal in Peñuelas will foster much needed new economic activity for municipalities on the island, and it will also position Puerto Rico’s industrial and commercial sector on a fast-track path toward economic growth by providing reliable and environmentally friendlier energy solutions.”
The facility will significantly grow Crowley’s service capabilities in Puerto Rico, delivering more than 94 million gal./y of LNG. When operating at full distribution capacity, it will help power an aggregate of 120 megawatts of cleaner energy while helping to reduce carbon dioxide and sulfur emissions.
“The inauguration of Crowley’s new LNG loading terminal marks an important step toward the diversification of Puerto Rico’s energy industry, allowing us to maximize the use of alternative fuels like LNG to usher the island into a new era of cleaner energy,” González Colón said. “The investment in these state-of-the-art facilities will also afford Puerto Rico the opportunity to play a strategic role in LNG national security efforts while leveraging new LNG technologies and economic development opportunities.”
Functionally, from Peñuelas, operators will load natural gas in its liquid form onto 10,000-gallon ISO containers for over-the-road transport to customer facilities around the island. Upon arrival at the customer’s site, the LNG will be regasified and used for power generation and energy consumption.